Automatic electric cooker.



T. A. CUTTING.

i AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC COOKER. APPLICATION FILED IJE'c. 2s, Isla.

1,326,443. Patent-ed De.3o,'1919.

WITNESS I' l INvI-:NTGR

I I A WeomaAGu/(nCLM/S.

THEODORE A. CUTTING, OF CAMPBELL, CALIFORNIA..

AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC COOKER.

Specification of Letters Patent; Patented Dec. 30, 1919.

Application led December 26, 1918. Serial No.1268,233.

To all whom 'it may concern Bea known um I, THEODORE a. lom;

Tmc, a citizen of the United States, residing'at Campbell, in the county of Santa Clara and State of California, have invented a new and useful Automatic Electric Cooker, of which thev following is a speciication.

My invention relates to improvements in electric cookers of the type in which heat is produced by an electric current passing from one electrode to another through the resistance of a poorly conducting. liquid; a-nd the objects of my invention are, rst, to provide a vapor-chamber for the automatic reduction of the current passing between the electrodes when the boiling .point is reached; second, to provide a condensing trap allowing the escape1 of expanding air,

but preventing the escape of steam; third, to afford facilities for bolting and insulating the electrodes in the steamer; fourth, to provide a base for connection with an electric circuit; ifth, to provide chemical solutions for stabilizing the conducti-vityof the liquid; and sixth, to provide walls that will not conduct heat.

I attain these objects by means illust-rated in the 'accompanying drawing, a vertical section of the entire device.

The detachable base 1 is connected to the supply circuit by wires 2 2, which enter the base through the holes 3 3. Springs 4 4 receive the-bolts 5 5 of the cooker.l

The cylindrical vessel 6 is a double walled utensil packed with heat insulating material, 7, and provided with a cover 8 of the same construction. An inverted cylinder 9 is affixed to theunder wall of the cover 8 and constitutes the regulating vapor-chamber 10.

Carbon, or other electrodes 11 are fixed in the bottom ofthe vessel 6 by theboltsi The bent tube, or trap, 15 leads from the vapor` chamber 10, and terminates in a small condensing chamber 16. f This chamber is fitted with a c0ver`17, containing a small aperture. The trap is provided with a valve A perforated cylin.-

18. Buttons 19 19 hold in place the cover 8 and the buoyant cylinder 9.

In operation, the electric cur'ent enters by the wire 2, passes by means of the spring 4 and bolt 5 to electrode 11, thence through a poorly conducting liquid to the other electrode 11, and by a reverse order out again. The heat generated 'by the current soon raises the liquid to the boiling pomt.

'The air in the chamber 10 expands as it is warmed and escapes through the vent tube 15.

' Steam from the heated liquid is condensed on the sides of the container (not shown), occupying the steam chamber 1Q.'

until its contents are hot. `Then the stcan'i` also begins to enter the benttube 15; but condensation immediately takes place in the tube and in the chamber 16, and water runs down and iills the trap.

With this escape cut oit, the steam, as it continues toform, forces the liquid out of the inverted cylinder 9, off the 'electrodes l11 11, and up in the space between the wall -9 of the steam-chamber 10 and the inner wall 6 of the utensil.- This constitutes the',

regula-tion, for now that the steam-cham-- ber 10 and all its contents are at the boiling point, and the'liquid forced away from the electrodes, the current, unable toleap the gap, drops very low.

he thick, non-heat-conducting walls of the utensil almost prevent the chilling and condensing of the steam, butwhen any does condense, the liquid renters the chamber and allows the passage of more current until new steam forms. Thus a constant cooking temperature is indefinitely maintained; and, by means of the automatic regulation, a minimum amount of current is expended.

The valve 18 is for the purpose of emptying the trap, ready to begin anew. It is necessary that the ex anding air be permitted to escape, for ot erwise it would press the liquid ofi' the electrodes before a cooking temperature was attained andprematurely check the action.

There isno intent to limit4 the size or position of the steam chamber, for arrangements arev more or less satisfactory where the steamechamber is small and not designed to hold the food-container, but to lie entirely beneath theliquid surface, or inl adjoining pipes or chambers. Neither is there intent i to limit the shape or position of the electrodes, nor even the number-,fior a single electrode will suiiice, lwith the walls of the vessel acting as the other, provided the vessel be of conductin material. v

Well water ordinarily contains enough lime or other dissolved material to make it suiiciently ,conductive` of the current, but

some waters conduct better than others;

and for the purpose of definite current con-- trol, the use of artificial solutions is included' in this specification.

e Saturated solutions of different chemical substancesidiiier ill their power of conducting an electriqcurrent. A

saturated solution of copper sulfate, for in- -\stance, is" found to have only about one eighth the conductivity of a saturated solution of sodium chlorid. `Each saturated solution has its own specific conductivity, and by the use of any suc'h solution in an electric cooker, the amount of current consumed becomesconstant for electrodes of given area and distance. Thus introducinga lump of lime into ordinary Water increases its conductivity to such a degree that the effect of the original substances in solution is too small to be of practical im ortance, and it can' be predicted within a su ciently narrow 'margin what current the device will consume in any locality'. Solutions diluted to one half, or to,an other definite proportion, also have de nite conductivities and ma be used in the same manner.

am ,aware that prior to my invention electric cookers have been made-using liquid as the heating element, and I do not therefore claim such broadly; but

I claim:

1. The combination in an electric cooker and heater of electrodes, liquid immersing said electrodes, a vapor-chamber containing said electrodes, and an adjoining receptacle disconnected from the walls of said vaporchamber, so as to lpermit.ofi-removal, and having easy communication `with the outside y atmosphere to prevent undue vsteam pressure, and communicating, also, with said vapor-Chamberlin such'la vmanner that the liquid may pass" into the receptacle when forced from said chamber b the formation 'l of vapor, and'return upon t e condensation 'of the vapor, substantially as described.

A and `as described.'

2, Ihn an electric/heater, the combination of electrodes, liquid immersing said electrodes, a. vapor-chamber containing said electrodes, an ad30v1n1ng receptacle communicatingwith said chamber in such a manner that the liquid may iiow between said chamber and said receptacle, and thereby automatically regulate the current, and an opening in said vapor-chamberfor the limited escape of expanding air and vapor, substantially as described. v

3. The'combination in anl electric liquid lheater of a vapor chamber and a trap-escape leading therefrom, essentially as described.

4. A trap, in an electric liquid heater,

combined with a condensing chamber terminating said trap, and a valve in the bend of said trap, substantially as described.

5. The combination in an electric liquid heater of an electrode at the bottom of a receptacle, an ample hole in the bottom of .forming part of the electric path, bolts passing from said electrodes through the bottom of the receptacle, a detachable base, springs within said base to receive the bolts electricl terminals connecting said sprin s to supply wires, substantially as descri d.

7.` A liquid-heater provided with a regulatingsteam-chamber, a surrounding doublewalled vessel Afilled with material noncon- -ductive of heat, la cover of the same construction, and buttons for holding said cover and steam-chamber in position, substantially l THEODORE A. CUTTING. Witnesses:

. CATHERINE COOPER,

MARY COOPER CUTTING. 

